How fast are WD Black HDDs compared to other HDDs??

[It's Chase]

I know SSDs are faster, but I'm thinking about buying a WD Black HDD to have some extra space for files and other stuff. Currently I'm using a WD Green and it's a bit slow.

[ScaryxIoLoIxFace]

Azza ☠ eredeti hozzászólása:

Don't bother with 1TB or smaller size, you might as well get a standard drive instead for cheaper.

Only get a WD Black HDD if 2TB or larger, ideally 4GB.

So a 1TB WD Black isn't any better than a 1TB WD Blue ?

I preferred Black for better performance and more importantly better reliability, specially they're almost same price here in Egypt. but I saw a lot of people complain about the Black loud noises compared to Blue.

I hate loud noises in my rig but I'm still seeking that better reliability black offers so I'm a bit confused, if you say at 1TB Black isn't any better then at least Blue quieter sounds might make it the right choice.

you agree or ?

[_I_]

blacks perform better than blue/green
green will sleep no matter what you set in windows or os
blue/black can stay awake
iirc black has more cache

at 1tb, get a ssd, much better than any spinning rust

[[N]ebsun]

It's Chase eredeti hozzászólása:

I know SSDs are faster, but I'm thinking about buying a WD Black HDD to have some extra space for files and other stuff. Currently I'm using a WD Green and it's a bit slow.

They are faster, but compared with the difference between HDD and SSD - that difference is a drop in the ocean. I don't notice the difference between any HDDs any more.

[_I_]

Nebsun eredeti hozzászólása:

It's Chase eredeti hozzászólása:

I know SSDs are faster, but I'm thinking about buying a WD Black HDD to have some extra space for files and other stuff. Currently I'm using a WD Green and it's a bit slow.

They are faster, but compared with the difference between HDD and SSD - that difference is a drop in the ocean. I don't notice the difference between any HDDs any more.

you quoted the op, from over 2 years ago, i hope he made the decision long ago

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

The WD Black is a CMR-style 7200RPM, 128MB cache HDD. Very reliable, inexpensive, and long-lasting. For single-player gaming, they are fine. Would I use them for competitive online gaming? No.

[Illusion of Progress]

Inexpensive doesn't come to mind when I think of Black HDDs. Blacks are the exact opposite of that and have poor value; they are fine on everything else though (in HDD terms).

I'm still using my old 5 TB Black (games) and my storage drives are 8 TB Blues (active storage). I really wouldn't bother with Black HDDs anymore though due to their poor value (I'm personally done buying any HDDs unless they are 5xx0 RPM for storage needs; 7200 RPM drives are dead to me and once SSDs get large/cheap enough, so will 5xx0 RPM drives). The "high capacity performance" role that 7,200 RPM drives like the Black fill has been slipping more on the consumer side with SSD costs having dropped a lot in the last couple years since this thread was made. It's really only at very high capacity scales, especially like with NAS, that they still make some sense.

[plat]

You can look this up online actually. A 4 TB capacity Black hdd has around 180 mb/sec read and write. The Black 6TB has a little over 200 mb/s read and write.

The Black performs slightly better in benchmarking than a Seagate Firecuda but both models perform very similarly overall.

If you look at Amazon as a reference, the Western Digital 7200 rpm 4 TB drive is about 30 USD more expensive than its Seagate counterpart.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Do not water your money on anything WD BLUE when it comes to a HDD.

Look at WD BLACK 2TB or larger or Seagate IronWolf

[jason]

I know this thread is two years old already but in mid 2023 HDDs only make sense in 4TB+ capacities. SSD prices have fallen off a cliff in recent months.

UK prices from WD shop (not too difficult to fish for an extra 10% off)
2TB WD Black HDD 129.99
2TB SN850X nvme 130.99
Elsewhere 2TB SATA SSD typically < 100

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Yes it would help to have maybe something like this inside the PC.

1x 1TB NVME SSD
1x 2TB NVME or SATA SSD
1x 4TB or larger SATA HDD 7200rpm

[Illusion of Progress]

I want to echo the post was resurrected for anyone still replying towards to OP...

Bad 💀 Motha eredeti hozzászólása:

Do not water your money on anything WD BLUE when it comes to a HDD.

Look at WD BLACK 2TB or larger or Seagate IronWolf

Once again an example of why generalizations can often be poor advice.

I'm not sure why you keep suggesting this when it's only becoming more backwards as the years go on as SSDs encroach more and more on HDD territory. It is 7200 RPM drives that are losing relevance (and among 7200 RPM drives, the Black in particular is often ridiculously overpriced). If anything is a waste of money in 2023, it is them. But keep hating 5xx0 RPM drives. I'll keep enjoying them for being superior values for any task that doesn't need performance. If you want performance, an HDD isn't it.

7200 RPM drives are the ones in particular that are becoming more and more pointless, and your generalized advice to "avoid Blues" isn't going to save them. Ignore it all you want, but the writing is on the wall, and HDD manufacturers saw it a decade ago, which is exactly why mainstream drives shifted from 7200 RPM to 5400 RPM; the former is losing relevance.

In my mind, I'm going to either get the "slower" 5xx0 RPM ones for storage, or just get an SSD for performance. That fringe area in the middle that 7200 RPM HDDs once filled? It is eroding by the day. They mostly still have a large place at very high capacities (read as, above what Blacks go up to) for NAS but that's about it. Why would you look at one for a consumer drive in a desktop in 2023?

By the way, I water my hard drives twice daily. Ensure you're doing the same.

[_I_]

plat eredeti hozzászólása:

You can look this up online actually. A 4 TB capacity Black hdd has around 180 mb/sec read and write. The Black 6TB has a little over 200 mb/s read and write.

The Black performs slightly better in benchmarking than a Seagate Firecuda but both models perform very similarly overall.

If you look at Amazon as a reference, the Western Digital 7200 rpm 4 TB drive is about 30 USD more expensive than its Seagate counterpart.

thats due to data density
if you look up similar model at same year, the larger drive will have more platters/heads, and give the same read/write speeds

[Illusion of Progress]

_I_ eredeti hozzászólása:

plat eredeti hozzászólása:

You can look this up online actually. A 4 TB capacity Black hdd has around 180 mb/sec read and write. The Black 6TB has a little over 200 mb/s read and write.

The Black performs slightly better in benchmarking than a Seagate Firecuda but both models perform very similarly overall.

If you look at Amazon as a reference, the Western Digital 7200 rpm 4 TB drive is about 30 USD more expensive than its Seagate counterpart.

thats due to data density
if you look up similar model at same year, the larger drive will have more platters/heads, and give the same read/write speeds

Yes, higher density (all else being equal) can improve performance.

My 4 TB and 8 TB Blues feel faster (or at worst, the same) as the 640 GB Blues I had long before, even though the latter was 7200 RPM and the newer pairs were both 5xx0 RPM.

You can't fixate on one stat.

[_I_]

also with the hdds, starting maybe 15 years ago, they are giving the outer rim tracks more sectors for higher data per rev, and fewer sectors for inner tracks

depending on where the data is, if its doing seq read/writes, will be different speeds
heads park off platter, giving outer data tracks much better seek times vs inner

hdd fill from outer to inner for performance
odd (cd/dvd/bd) fill/read from inner to outer for better scratch/damage resistance

on ssd, all data has the same seek and read/write times

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Why do I keep suggesting what? WTF is wrong with what I said???

Maybe overpriced where you looking at.
But WD Blue are all junk. That's a fact when it comes to HDDs. Now WD Blue SSDs are fine.